


The Spaces Between Us

by ruggedbrilliance



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Forced Outing, Happy Ending, M/M, OT4 Friendship, Twitter feud, naughty boy is the bad guy, slight friend betrayal, some ot5, zayn is not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 08:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3889867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruggedbrilliance/pseuds/ruggedbrilliance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the wake of the recent Louis, Zayn and Naughty Boy twitter debacle, Naughty Boy goes way too far and the consequences cause friendships, and relationships, to be tested to the breaking point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who’s gonna be the first one to start the fight?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So I got this idea stuck in my head after the drama this morning, hopefully I don't get too much hate for it. Just want to say upfront that this does contain pretty significant Naughty Boy bashing, but does not have any Zayn bashing. There is drama between Zayn and the boys but he is NOT the bad guy in this story.

“Babe, maybe you should just leave it alone….” Harry said, not very convincingly from where he was sat against the headboard, Louis in his lap as he tweeted furiously. 

“Leave it alone?! Have we met! No, he’s gone too far as usual and needs to be put into his place. He shouldn’t keep taunting our fans.” Louis finished his tweet about Naughty Boy’s tendency to ride coattails and then slumped back against his boyfriend, who wrapped his arms around him soothingly. 

“I know, you’re right. But I was really hoping we could enjoy our time together a little more and not have to deal with all of this for a little while.” 

Louis sighed. He felt bad that he was wasting his private time with Harry on such petty bullshit, but he was just so angry he had to get it out the best he could. Well, arguably yet another twitter feud was not the best course of action, but he had limited options at this point. Still, he was about to actually put his phone down and resume enjoying being in bed with his half-naked boyfriend, when his mentions caught his eye. 

The first were from Naughty Boy (and really, what self-respecting man calls himself that?) taking some cheap shot at his singing, there were about a million from fans rallying behind Louis, and then there was—

“Oh.” Louis said quietly, instinctively burrowing closer into Harry as his anger evaporated into hurt. 

Harry, concerned, leaned forward and rested his head on Louis’ shoulder so he could see his phone. And suddenly all the anger that had been in his boyfriend seemed to transfer to him as he read what their supposed best friend had tweeted. He saw read, and clutched Louis to him protectively; he was horrified but not surprised when he saw that his eyes were welling with tears. 

“What the fuck Zayn? Who does he think he is? Is he seriously going to take that bastards side after what he’s said about you, and what he’s done to our fans? I thought we were all trying to be civil! I’m going to—“ 

“Haz.” Louis stopped him with a word, as usual. “Don’t. It’s…it is what it is. Not even the first time he’s called me bitchy, is it?” he said with a weak laugh. Obviously this wasn’t the same; they both knew that this was nothing like the friendly ribbing Louis and Zayn used to share. 

Louis quickly wrote another tweet, completely shutting down Naughty Boy yet again. Harry didn’t know if he was proud or infuriated that Louis was actually being the bigger man and not responding to Zayn. Louis then locked his phone and threw it off the side of the bed, before turning and laying his head on Harry’s chest, squeezing his damp eyes shut. 

Harry curled up around him and didn’t say anything. He knew Louis well enough to know when he didn’t want to talk about something; so he did what he did best, and held his boy until they both drifted off for a nap.  
They woke up to a frantic pounding on the bedroom door, which meant it had to be either Liam or Nick, since only they and Niall had keys to the house. Harry stretched and called for whoever it was to come in, at the same time that Louis reached over to the side of the bed to retrieve his phone to find that he had hundreds of notifications and an alarming about of missed calls. 

It turned out to be Liam who came rushing in the room, and immediately tried (and failed) to school his expression into something less panicked. Both boys in the bed were immediately on edge. 

“Liam, what is it? What happened?” Harry asked, while Louis was unlocking his phone to see what all the fuss was. Surprisingly, Liam moved forward and snatched it from his hands. 

“I….sorry to burst in. I just didn’t…and we all called, I was hoping you hadn’t heard yet but…” Liam signed and rubbed a hand down his face. “Look, I’ll go downstairs, you guys get dressed and meet me down there and I’ll explain.” 

He left the room still holding Louis’ phone hostage. Harry immediately moved to the closet to through on some sweats, but stopped when he saw Louis standing still in the middle of the room, looking small and afraid. He went and wrapped him into a hug, and Louis clung to him tightly for a long moment before Harry drew them apart, dropped a sweet kiss to his forehead, and handed him some clothes to put on before they descended the stairs hand in hand to join Liam. 

Liam was seated on the sofa looking solemn, with Harry’s laptop out in front of him. That definitely wasn’t a good thing. He tried for a smile when he saw them, but it didn’t quite work. 

“So first of all, I already told management to back the fuck off when they called me because they couldn’t get you two on the phone. So I bought us at least a few hours. Niall is already on a plane heading out here. I just want you guys to remain calm and understand that we are here for you.” 

“Fucks sake Liam, just tell us what is going on!” Harry burst out. Louis was being uncharacteristically quiet, curled into Harry’s arms looking like he felt the same sense of rising dread that was making Harry lash out. 

“Ok, I’m sorry, I just. I don’t want to have to be the one to do this but I didn’t want you to just see on your own.” He opened a window on the computer that had been minimized on the computer to an online article with the headline “LOUIS/ZAYN TWITTER FEUD REVEALS GAY 1D SCANDAL”. Embedded in the article was a tweet by Naughty Boy, and, oh God, a video. 

The tweet seemed to be in reply to Louis’ last one, and said “That’s right, all those love songs you contribute, wonder what is your inspiration”. They both recognized the video just from a still as soon as they saw it. 

“Press play.” Louis croaked.

“Listen, Lou, he deleted it almost as soon as it was posted, our lawyers are going to absolutely destroy him. Most of the fans want his head for this, it was obviously way over the line—“ 

“Play the fucking video Liam or get out of our fucking house!” Louis snapped. 

Liam sighed and pressed play. The video was obviously taken inside the tour bus, and was shaky and a little dark, but what was being shown was clear as day. Harry was sitting on the sofa, with Louis curled into his shoulder, legs thrown over his lap. Niall was next to them, doing a stupid accent and speaking to the camera. 

“And here we can see the European Lovebirds in their natural habitat. Once this species finds a mate, they will proceed to be disgustingly lovey-dovey and handsy so as to drive away competition and annoy the fuck out of their bandmates.” Niall said with a smile. Louis reached over to smack him, while Liam could be heard cracking up. 

“You, Neil, are just a tragically jealous and lonely individual.” Louis said haughtily, while Harry smiled down at him indulgently. 

“Psh, jealous, right, like I would want to have to put up with a little hell-beast like you anymore than I already do. Harry can keep you.” Everyone cracked up again while Louis looked disgruntled. 

Harry cooed at the boy in his arms. “Aw baby I don’t think you’re a hell-beast. My little angel, isn’t that right?” 

The other boys made fake gagging noises as they usually did when Harry was disgustingly sappy, while Louis smiled up at his boyfriend and leaned in for a kiss. The two boys kissed in a way that was definitely not chaste, and definitely could not be construed as a joke or a kiss between friends. Then Niall knocked into them and they pulled apart. 

“Oi! Save if for the hotel, lads.” Everyone laughed again, and the camera shut off. 

It was quiet for a long time after the video ended. Finally Liam cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“Like I said, I’m holding off management for now. They are looking for any possible spin they can put on it, but honestly it’s a little obvious that….I mean, the way it looks there aren’t many ways to go about it. Like I said, the tweet was deleted but the video had already been saved and downloaded so many times…they lawyers are working to get it off the news sites and a lot of our fans are telling people on like Tumblr not to reblog it but the fact is that people have seen it. I’m so sorry.” 

Liam truly looked sorry, and Harry looked absolutely devastated, but Louis. Louis was completely numb. Not because he’d just been forcibly outed, not because of all the shit they were going to go through soon or all the backlash they’d face. No, Louis mind, body and heart seemed to have completely shut down because he remembered, with crystal clarity, the night that video had been taken.  
So he knew that the only place Naughty Boy could’ve gotten it was from Zayn’s phone.


	2. Hold All Our Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sad Niall is the most horrifying thing ever, Louis takes charge, and Harry finally breaks down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this is getting out of hand, it is going to be much longer than I anticipated! Please let me know any errors you see, this is pretty much unedited because I maybe wrote it at work (shhhh). Also, I realized my timeline is kinda weird, so just imagine that the whole twitter fight happened early morning LA time, then Liam came over mid-morning ish and Niall was already on a flight, and then this chapter takes place late night/early the next morning. Thanks!

It was late in the night by the time Niall arrived. In that time, Liam had many angry calls with management, demanding more time, until Harry finally had to get on the phone. They ran him through all the legal actions they were currently taking, and tried to press for the boys to all return to London immediately for damage control.

Harry felt safe in LA though, with all his boys surrounding him in the fortress of a home he’d created for him and Louis to be able to get away from it all. Finally they agreed to send a representative to meet the boys in the morning at the house, but stressed the fact that they couldn’t hold off much longer without some kind of statement. Harry told him they had to talk as a band, and then promptly hung up and turned off his phone. 

Louis’ phone was already out of commission, because he had thrown it against a wall in a rage immediately after coming out of his stupor that watching the video caused. However besides this one burst of violence, he was shockingly quiet. There was something both tense and defeated in his manner, and Harry, who knew him better than anyone, recognized that he was lost in a dark place in his head. Harry wasn’t used to taking the lead between the two of them, but he was skilled at taking care of his boyfriend, and that was his main focus at the moment. 

Of course, underneath the part of his that was screaming protect Louis, Harry was terrified, and incredibly hurt as well. He knew that coming out was extremely hard for Louis, but he wasn’t exactly ready himself. Not to mention the fact of the origin of that video…

He could barely think about it. He knew things were tense with Zayn (more so than they had let on obviously) but they had parted ways with the promise to continue to be friends. Family, even. It was hard for him to believe that he would betray them in what he knew was the worst way possible; the ultimate way to hurt them, especially Louis. Zayn and Louis always had a special bond, and in fact Zayn probably knew more about Louis’ true self than anyone save Harry. Just thinking about what Louis must be feeling right now made Harry squeeze him even closer where he was already wrapped tightly around his boyfriend like a shield; like he could possibly protect him from the pain he was feeling with just the power of his body. 

Harry, Louis and Liam were all a bit startled when they heard a knock on the door; it was unusual for Niall not to just burst in. Liam got up to let him in, not sure it was even possible to tear his bandmates apart from each other right now. Liam was shocked when he found a red and puffy-eyed Niall looking nearly hysterical, and like he had just cried for 11 hours straight. 

“Niall, oh my god, calm down, are you ok?” Liam tried to pull him in to his arms, so disturbed by seeing his usually cheerful friend so distraught but Niall just pushed past him and seemed to go looking for his other bandmates. 

When he found Harry and Louis curled together on the couch, and how small and devastated Louis looked, he fell to his knees in front of them and fresh tears began to fall.  
“Guys, guys I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry and I love you but I’m such an idiot. That video, that stupid video of me trying to be funny, it was my idea, it was so stupid to put you on camera like that, I never thought it would come back to hurt you, but when do I think huh? Fuck I am so sorry.” Niall continued to babble on, his words almost illegible with the combination of his tears and the way his accent thickened when he was upset. 

Liam tried to pull him off the ground, hissing to him to get a hold of himself, this wasn’t what Louis and Harry needed to deal with right now, while Harry was looking horrified and trying to soothe the Irishman. It was a bit of chaos for a while until Louis spoke. 

“Niall.” Louis spoke in a firm, authoritative voice that shut them all up instantly, like it always did. “Niall, stop. It’s not your fault, we were all just having a laugh and you weren’t the one filming.” 

Louis took a deep breath, untangling himself from Harry’s arms (which took quite the effort, as he wasn’t keen to let go.) He stood in front of them, looking like the defiant, protective man they all knew. 

“It was Zayn.” He said, and his voice didn’t even waver. “This was all Zayn” 

And with this proclamation, with Louis finally finding his strength, Harry let go the last of his. He let out a sound close to a wail, looking like a poor, abused animal, and ran out of the room. The three heard a door slam upstairs soon after. 

Louis looked ready to go after him, but then he steadied himself. Harry needed a minute, after graciously hold him up for the last many hours while he was broken down. But there were things that needed to be done, things that had to be handled sooner rather than later, and Louis was done being weak. His boys needed him. 

“Liam, call Grimshaw and get his ass over here. Harry needs someone looking after him right now. Plus he has some experience with the whole gay thing.” Liam nodded and set to dialing. 

“Niall, fucking pull yourself together and go make us some food, the three of us hasn’t eaten all day and I’m sure you haven’t either. When Liam’s off the phone make sure he checks in with Sophia, he hasn’t talked to her the whole time he’s been here. I’m going to go call mine and Harry’s mums, make sure the families are ok and staying off the internet.” Louis felt a little more grounded; always better when he was in control. 

He called the two families quickly, trying to speak dispassionately to him mum and Harry’s (who was practically his mum as well) was tough, but he couldn’t afford to break down again. After that was done, he went up the stars to check on Harry. 

“Hey baby.” He said as he entered the room. He sat on the bed next to where Harry was laying with his face in the pillow and stroked his curls. “Grimmy is on his way over.” 

Harry didn’t respond. Louis sighed.  
“Sweetheart, look at me for a second please.” Louis said gently, and Harry turned over, his cheeks tear-stained and flushed.

“We’re not going to deny anything, Haz. Not this time. This happened in the shittiest way possible, but we can make it work. And I’m done hiding how much I love you.” Louis said firmly. 

“Louis? Are you serious?” Harry said. 

“If it’s ok with you, of course. It’s your decision too. I know Niall and Liam will support us no matter what.” 

Harry might be scared of coming out, but there was only one answer possible when it came to getting to love Louis publically. He sat up quickly and pulled his boyfriend in for a desperate, passionate kiss. 

“Yes. Absolutely. Let’s do it.” Harry said when they pulled apart. 

Louis looked at him oh so fondly. “Then it’s settled. Stay up here and try to get a little rest; you’ve been up all day and night and the management rep will probably be here in a couple hours. I’ll send Grimmy up with some food and cuddles when he gets here.” 

Harry pouted slightly. “You need rest too, you know. And I prefer your cuddles.” 

“I know, I just have a few more things to do, and I’m feeling plenty rested. I’ll call for you when the rep gets here.” He gave Harry one last soft kiss and made sure he was cozy before he left the room. 

At the landing at the top of the stairs, he pulled out Harry’s phone and turned it on. He dared to look at twitter for a second, but the flood of messages (positive and negative) was still too much to handle. He opened up the contacts and before he could think it out properly, pressed Zayn’s name. It went straight to voicemail, the fucking coward. 

“Zayn, what you’ve done is beyond the cruelest thing possible. Any hope of friendship is gone between us. You used to know me better than anyone else, so you should know how I react when someone hurts me, and especially when someone hurts the love of my life. We’re going to destroy you, Zayn. And I hope it was worth it.” 

He hung up angrily, annoyed to find a tear slipping down his cheek. He wiped it off and composed himself before stalking back down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Might get another chapter out tonight after work because this is really stuck in my head. Sorry for drawing out the Zayn angst a little more, but I just had to have some totally in charge and terrifying Louis. Also, the Harry/Nick Grimshaw friendship snuck up on me, I know not everyone likes him but he's in LA so I figured why not. Also, hoping to add more H/L sweetness as this goes along.


	3. Will we ever learn?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things hit home with Louis, he gets a surprising shoulder to cry on, and Zayn finally enters our story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story just keeps expanding beyond what I was expecting. Thank you all for reading and commenting!

Louis went downstairs to find Niall plating a bunch of cheese toasties and a one Nick Grimshaw sitting in his living room. Nick looked obnoxiously put together and awake for 5 am, but he supposed he was used to the early hour. He stood up when he saw Louis, and gave him a look that was far too serious

“Nicholas.” Louis greeted. “You got here fast.”

“Yeah, well I was waiting for the call to be honest. Wanted to be ready if you lot needed me.”

Louis was surprisingly touched by the sentiment. He and Nick have never been enemies, but he was Harry’s friend more than anything, and always seemed fairly indifferent to the rest of the boys. Louis realized how nice it was to have someone else in their corner that they could trust.

Niall came in the room and handed Louis and Nick each a sandwich. Louis turned his over to Nick as well and told him to take it up to Harry.

“Just look after him for a bit, please? Make sure he eats and gets some rest.”

Nick looked at Louis with a calculating expression for a moment, but then nodded and headed up the stairs.

Liam, Niall and Louis ate mostly in silence, and then Louis forced the other boys into the guest rooms to try and get a few minutes of sleep as well; he knew the next few days would only be more exhausting, once they were finally forced to leave this comfortable isolation.

Louis himself knew that he should probably go upstairs, kick Grimshaw out of his bed and get some rest himself, but there was no way he could sleep with the way his mind seemed to be spinning and his body buzzing with energy. He knew there were so many things he should be doing, arrangements he should be making, and he should really be doing a better job taking care of the other boys, but he was at a loss.

So he was stuck in a sort of limbo; not able to rest but not able to do anything productive either and it made him feel even more powerless. He sat on the couch and hung his head, digging his palms into his eyes to try and ease the burn from not sleeping for almost 24 hours. He was so lost in his own head that he didn’t even notice someone approaching until they sat down next to him.

He jerked his head up to find Nick looking at him with that same calculating expression from earlier, and was immediately alert.

“What? What’s wrong? Is Harry ok, does he need me?” He made to rise from the couch but Nick shook his head.

“No, well yes, he definitely needs you, but right at this second he is asleep.”

Louis slumped back into the sofa. The two sat in silence for a while, not something either of them were used to, until Nick spoke up again.

“How are you doing, Louis?”

The question hit him like a blow to the chest, and brought back his anger. His emotions were all so close to the surface today.

“How the fuck do you think I am?! Harry is absolutely devastated, Niall somehow thinks it’s his fault, Liam is doing a piss poor job of acting like everything is ok, our career could be ruined, and my former best friend—“ He stopped. He wasn’t ready to talk about that.

“No Louis, I understand the situation, I know how the other boys are doing. I’m asking about you. I know you’re really focused on…” Nick stopped, seemed to reconsider the name he was about to say. “…on being betrayed. On feeling angry and hurt by that. But I’m wondering if you have had any time to realize that you’ve just been outed. Harry tells me that you aren’t going to deny it, and he’s thrilled about that, but I just…”

Nick sighed and ran his hand through his ridiculous hair.

“Listen, I am not the friend that anyone comes to with serious problems or feelings alright? I’m rubbish at it. If you want to get drunk and laugh away your worries I’m your guy, but I’m shit at actually being supportive. And I know we’re not even friends.” Louis didn’t disagree.

“But all I’m saying is that I know a little something about hiding. I know about being afraid to be who you are and worrying how people will react. And you had all your control taken away.” Nick said in a rush, and then almost flinched like he thought Louis would have another outburst.  

But Louis wasn’t angry. He was crying.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry I—“ Nick said frantically, but Louis waved him off.

“No, no, you’re right. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m crying in front of you but you’re right. I’m terrified.” He wiped away the tears on his cheeks but more just fell in their place.

“I’m so hurt and scared, and I broke down when we first heard and I’m so mad that Harry had to take care of me, and now I’m still not taking care of him enough. I’m scared that people will hate me even more than they already do.  And what if…what if I can’t do this? Harry is so happy to come out and be out and everyone will love him no matter what but what if all I do is bring down? I’m so afraid we won’t survive this.”

Louis took a shuddering breath.

“Louis Tomlinson. I am going to hug you now, but we must never speak of it.” Nick said solemnly, startling a laugh out of Louis, and he let himself be pulled in.

It was probably the most awkward and stiff hug in existence, but it was comforting in its own way. Louis felt a little more grounded once he pulled away.

“And now, you are going to go cuddle that boy up there who is absolutely, irrevocably in love with you and remind yourself that no matter what happens, you two pop-stars are forever.” Nick said with authority. “And I am going to sit down here and congratulate myself for being emotionally mature for an entire 20 minutes and vow to never do it again.”

“You’re such a twat, Nicholas.” Louis said, but Nick took it as the thank you it was meant to be.

* * *

 

Harry was lying star-fished on his back, curls haloed around his head and his mouth hanging open. Louis looked at him and was so, so in love. But of course, that’s how he felt every time he looked at his boyfriend. He crept into the room, tiptoeing over and curled up next to his boyfriend, trying not to wake him, but his eyes fluttered open.

“Boooooo!” he drawled out, his voice scratchy and deep. He still looked exhausted, had only been asleep maybe 45 minutes, but he smiled and wrapped his arm around Louis like he was perfectly content.

“Shh, baby, go back to sleep, I’ll stay here with you. Only have a little more time before the management rep shows up probably.”

Harry’s eyes were already closed again, and he snuggled closer, pressing his face to Louis’ hair. “Mmm, love you Lou. Grimmy’s a rubbish cuddler, s’too tall.”

Louis laughed. “Aw, be nice, Nick’s not so bad.”

They were quiet, and Louis was sure that Harry must be almost all the way asleep when he spoke again.

“We’re going to be ok, aren’t we Harry?” he was quiet, and thought Harry wouldn’t even hear him, but he should have known better.

“Course we are Louis. M’gonna marry you, have your babies. It’s fate, you and I.” Harry finished, and then was truly asleep.

Louis smiled, a real smile for the first time in the last two days, and let himself drift off in the arms of his soul mate.

Harry was woken up by the doorbell ringing, and he regrettably roused Louis as well. Time to face the music. They met Niall and Liam on the stairs, looking a little more composed but still solemn and exhausted. Harry reached the door and pulled it open, but it wasn’t who any of them  expected.

* * *

 

 

“Seemed like it’d probably be inappropriate to use my key,” Zayn said.

Harry stumbled back away from the door like he’d been physically shocked, and Louis lunged with a murderous look on his face.

Liam beat him to it.

They all knew how strong and fit Liam was, but he was always such a harmless puppy it never really translated to any amount of intimidation. But he swung back with enough force to leave even their security team seeing stars, and punched Zayn straight in the face. Zayn staggered back quite a lot, being much smaller and not having been anticipating such an attack, and Liam was going in for another swing aimed at his gut when Niall pulled him back.

And then they heard Zayn laugh. By now Harry was restraining Louis, or he would have pounced at the sound.

“How dare you show up here? And what the FUCK could you possibly find funny here you son of a bitch?!” Louis screamed.

Zayn’s laugh shut off abruptly, and he looked cowed. “I’m sorry, I just, God, it’s not funny it’s just,” He held up the back of one hand for them to see, and his knuckles were mottled with bruises. “I did the same thing to Shahid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for the person who wanted a Louis breakdown and Harry/Nick comforting him. I might go back and expand the H/L interlude because I really feel like this is lacking enough of their actual relationship but we'll see how things develop. Also, don't worry, Zayn is definitely not off the hook just yet...


	4. Who’s gonna be the first one to compromise?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn has a lot to answer for, Louis isn't the forgiving type, and management arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you thank you thank you for everyone who is reading this angsty beast! Things start moving along in this chapter, and soon the boys will have to go back into the real world...stay tuned!

The four members of One Direction were sitting together on the couch in Louis and Harry’s house, with their ex-member sat across from them in an armchair. There was a time when all five of them would have been shoved on the couch, limbs tangled and laughing, but that time was in the past. Now, Harry sat clutching Louis to him like he was still restraining him from hurting someone (maybe he was), Niall had his arm thrown protectively around Harry’s shoulder, and Liam was icing his hand at Harry’s insistence. It had taken tremendous effort for him not to insist Zayn do the same, out of instinct. 

They were all staring, waiting for Zayn to say something, but he seemed surprised to have even been let into the house, and didn’t seem to have thought any farther ahead than that. Louis, as usual, took charge. 

“You still haven’t said what the fuck you’re doing in our home, Malik.” Louis said, calm in a way that was more terrifying than his rage. “What, you punch one bastard in the face, something you should have done months ago, and suddenly we’re supposed to all be fine again?” 

Zayn went from submissive and defensive in an instant. “Nothings fine, Louis! Nothing has been fine for a long time, which I tried to explain to you but you didn’t listen. You just assumed I’d keep following you, like we’ve all always done.”   
Louis sat up a little straighter, shrugging Harry off him but grabbing on to his thigh so he wouldn’t feel hurt by it. 

“Well then if I’m just some bitchy asshole who doesn’t listen, I really don’t understand why you’re here right now. Get sick of the death threats already? Come to beg us to help you salvage any fan you might have left?” Louis knew right where to hit when he wanted to. 

Zayn stood up angrily. “Jesus Louis, I’m here because you were just outed and I thought even with things how they are between us that I should be here to support you!” 

Louis stood as well, causing the rest of the boys to as well, in case they needed to intervene. 

“Support us?! You’ve done nothing to support us for months Zayn. All you’ve thought about is yourself and you’re new best friend. And this situation is your fault in the first place. I hope you got my message because I meant every word; you betrayed us and I’ll never forgive you for that!” 

“I didn’t out you, Louis!” Zayn said. 

“Who’s phone was the video on, answer me that. It might not have gone up through your twitter, but you are the reason it is out there for anyone to watch. For anyone, any stranger, to watch me and my boyfriend kissing and being in love and for them to decide to hate us for it.” 

“Louis, I didn’t give him the video! He stole it off my phone. I would never do this to you, even if we never spoke again or if I hated you, I could never force you out.” Zayn said. “I wanted to kill him for what he did.” 

Harry wanted to believe him, and he could see that Liam and Niall were wavering. It just felt so wrong to be at odds with each other. But Louis wasn’t so easy. 

“How did he know it was there, Zayn?” He said coldly. 

“What?” Zayn asked, but looked like he knew where it was heading. 

“The video. If he stole it off your phone, he knew it was there beforehand. Did you show it to him? Did you laugh with him about finally being free of your queer bandmates dragging you down? Did you share our private moments with someone who has never had anything but contempt for me and my boyfriend?” Louis was clearly getting worked up again. 

“Louis, it wasn’t like that…” Zayn tried lamely. 

“No, I think that’s exactly how it was. It doesn’t matter if it was to thousands of people online, or just one shitty guy, you still outed us.” Louis clearly meant what he said. 

Zayn and Louis stood mere feet apart, staring at each other. Louis seemed to be waiting for Zayn to continue the fight, try and defend himself, but he was shocked into silence. A silence which was awkwardly broken by one radio DJ who looked like he would rather be anywhere else at this moment. 

“Er, lads. Don’t mean to interrupt but there’s an incredibly intimidating woman here. She made me sign a nondisclosure agreement as thick as a book that may well give her ownership of my soul and she’s not really buying my stalling tactics.” Nick said awkwardly. 

Just then, a woman in a flawless black suit strode authoritatively into the room, carrying a large folio and a stack of papers. Management had arrived. 

Harry tugged on Louis’ hand and he sat back down on the sofa next to his boyfriend; they held hands in a death-grip but didn’t want to otherwise be too affectionate. Liam and Niall straightened up, closing ranks, and Zayn timidly took his seat in the armchair. Nick still hovered just inside the room. 

“Don’t look so afraid, boys. I’m a PR executive, not an executioner.” She said firmly, but with the barest hint of compassion that made everyone a little more at ease. 

She hardened again immediately though. “First of all, he can’t be here.” 

Nick immediately started to back out of the room. “Right, of course, I’ll just wait in the kitchen while you do all your super important boyband-y things, shall I?” 

Harry, and surprisingly Louis were about to protest, feeling they could maybe use Nick’s support and media expertise, but the woman spoke first. 

“Not you, Grimshaw, I’ve got you comfortably wrapped up in paperwork enough that I trust you won’t report on so much as the wall color of this room. I meant him.” She pointed one perfectly manicured fingernail at Zayn, her eyes hard. 

Harry felt a horrible twisting in his stomach. Right, this was band business, and that no longer included Zayn. It felt wrong to just kick him out of the room though. Harry was far from letting him off the hook, but he did think Louis was being a little harsh maybe. He desperately wanted to believe that Zayn was being truthful, and that he really did come just to support them. Maybe Harry was being naïve, but he just wasn’t capable of believing that Zayn had done something that he knew would hurt them so badly. 

“I didn’t have anything to do with the leak,” Zayn said, and Louis scoffed. “I promise, I just want to be here to support my best friends.” 

The woman was unmoved. “Yes, well don’t worry Mr. Malik, we will definitely be having a conversation quite soon, but for now there is confidential One Direction business to discuss, to which I am sure you are aware you are no longer privy.” 

Zayn didn’t argue, and instead left the house entirely, but just to sit on Harry and Louis’ covered porch. Nick looked like he was still ready to bolt, but seeing the impeaching looks of his friends he sighed and took the vacated armchair. The woman remained standing. 

“Alright lads, my name is Ella and I am obviously here to help you sort out the difficult situation we find ourselves in. We need a game plan and we need one quickly, especially with the time we’ve already lost.” She shot a look at Liam, and he withered under her gaze slightly. 

“In any case, we have contingency plans in place in case of a coming out. This is the second-to-worst case scenario but we should be able to get through it smoothly. First I need to know which road we are going down. My bosses have a way they are leaning but frankly, and this can’t be repeated, but I think the decision should be left up to you. Lord knows you’ve had enough control taken away already.” She still looked fierce, but now they felt that maybe it was on their behalf rather than against them. 

Harry nodded at Louis to speak. “We appreciate that, truly. And, um. We decided to move forward without denying anything. Not just not denying, I guess…confirming. Coming out. Whatever.” 

Ella looked like it was what she expected. “And you’re sure? You’ve thought about the ramifications of this, on all of you, on your futures? There is plenty of support trending but I won’t lie to you boys, it’s not all rainbows out there.” 

“We’re sure. Absolutely.” Harry said proudly. 

“We support them; Liam and me, we’ve talked about it, and we don’t care what it does to the band, we’re with them no matter what.” Niall said, and Louis honestly felt himself go a little misty-eyed. 

“To be honest, I suspected this was the way things would go; a denial at this point would probably only do more harm anyway. Still, this is going to be a lot of work, some people will need to be convinced, and this will all be done in a very carefully monitored and fully planned-out way. There will likely still be restrictions on how Harry and Louis are allowed to interact, at least at the start. We’ve got a long day ahead of us, many phone calls to make, and sorry to say you can’t all stay holed up here much longer.” Ella was clearly in her element, already sending texts and emails while she spoke. 

“Unofficially, I want to say that I think you’re being incredibly brave, and I will support you as much as I can. I know a lot of people who will feel the same way.” She looked up from her phone and gave them a reassuring smile. “Now, that’s quite enough of the touchy-feely stuff. It’s time to call Simon.”


	5. Even though I try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Zayn have a heart-to-heart, and the boys are all in for a surprise...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY updating!!! Thank you for everyone who has read and commented this far, and for your patience. I have internet at home once again and work has calmed down so I'm hoping to get back on track with this. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter!

The call with Simon went...well, it wasn't the worst thing that happened lately at least. Ella took the reigns and explained her proposed course of action, and a consensus was reached. Honestly by this point Harry was barely listening; he felt more tired than he ever had before. There had been too many mixed emotions running through him for the past two days, and keeping up with Louis was draining in itself. 

He loved Louis, loved him more than anything, but that didn't blind him to how difficult he could be, despite what the boys might think sometimes. He wasn't a saint like they thought, couldn't always deal with his boyfriend's ups and downs as easily as everyone assumed. Nor was he the naïve child that he knew even Louis saw him as sometimes. It was just easier to play that role sometimes, to be the gentle, sweet one all the time, and let Louis protect him and coddle him as much as he needed. But that didn't mean he didn't have his own thoughts and feelings about the events of the last few days. 

His eyes kept shifting over in the direction of the garden instead of paying attention to others deciding the details of his future. He trusted his boys and his team to sort it all out. 

His boys. He couldn't see Zayn from where he was sitting, but still his eyes still drifted. He hadn't really had much time to talk to anyone about how he felt after he left the band. Louis was devastated and hid it with his rage, and Harry had to push his own feelings aside to support him. Niall dealt with things by retreating into his family, to parties and booze, very Irish in his coping mechanisms. Liam seemed to revert into his Daddy-direction days; he wasn't as carefree recently, burying himself deep in his work and mothering the boys in a way that felt a little desperate. He didn't know how Zayn was dealing with it. 

Unlike Louis, he would admit that this must have been a hard decision for Zayn, and he must be suffering from it as well. He was angry and hurt obviously, but Zayn was part of his family, would always have a place in his heart, and it was harder for him to hate him completely. Even now he wanted so much to believe Zayn didn't out them on purpose; that he really was here with them now simply because he still cared. 

Maybe he was naïve. 

Still, as the meeting broke up, he found himself making his way outside to his former band-mate. Louis gave him a sharp look and started to head after him, but Nick placed a gentle hand on his arm, and he surprisingly held back. 

Zayn was sitting on the low-garden wall smoking, but when he saw Harry he stood awkwardly, putting out his cigarette and taking an aborted step forward before sitting back down stiffly. It wasn't right, Harry thought, Zayn looking awkward. He was supposed to look graceful and cool, and when he was alone with the boys, comfortable and at ease. He guessed things were different now. 

Harry sat down next to Zayn, close enough to touch but he didn't reach out. Part of him wanted to pull him in for a hug; it looked like Zayn needed it. But he wasn't there yet. He hoped he would be again someday soon. 

“Hey Haz.” Zayn said softly, looking at his hands. “Everything alright in there?” 

He winced as soon as he said it. “Shit, sorry, of course it's not alright. Jesus, I...maybe I should go.” He made to stand up but Harry held out a hand, just shy of touching him. 

“No, don't. Please.” Harry said. Zayn sat back down cautiously. 

They were quiet for a moment. 

“I don't really know what I want to say to you,” Harry finally said honestly. 

Zayn chuckled humorlessly. “I know what Louis wants to say.” 

“Don't.” Harry said a little sharply, and Zayn deflated. 

“Sorry. That was uncalled for. He has a right to hate me, I guess. You both do.” 

“We're not the same person, you know.” Harry said, and Zayn finally looked up and met his eyes. “I know I let him speak for us both a lot but he needs that. I'm not stupid though; I have my own thoughts.” 

“I know,” he said gently. “I've always known that, Harry. What I don't know is what you think of all this. What you think about me right now.” 

Harry sighed. “I think...I think I'm not the cupcake that people see me as either. I know how to be angry, even if I'm ranting on Twitter or screaming in your face. And I am angry, Zayn. You hurt Louis, but you know what, you hurt me too. You never talked to us, any of us about how you were feeling until you just...you abandoned us, Z. I actually get why you wanted to leave the band, probably better than the others, but I don't get why you had to leave us. It's been months and that stupid Twitter fight was the first any of us has heard from you.” 

“I know. I didn't know what to do, Haz. I know I probably handling things terribly. I guess I could say that I thought making a clean break would be easier for all of us, but truth is I didn't want to deal with it. If I cut you out of my life I wouldn't have feel responsible for how I knew you must be feeling. It was selfish.” 

“You have a right to be selfish, Zayn. We all need to be sometimes. You had to do what you felt was right for you.” Harry's gaze hardened. “But this thing with Shahid...I just don't understand. I want to, but...” 

“I know what Lous...” Zayn trailed off, knowing that Louis wasn't the point right now. “I mean, I know what it looks like. Maybe I was stupid for ever thinking he had my best interests at heart, but I really thought he was a good friend. I never imagined he'd do something like this, and I didn't....I never showed him the video, you know. I don't know what he was trying to find by going through my phone.” 

Zayn steeled himself. “I did tell him about you, though. About you a Louis.” He paused, expecting Harry to interject, but he was just looking at him inscrutably. “I know it wasn't my secret to tell, but...I was stupid. I didn't even see it that way at the time. You guys have been such a big part of my life for so long, all of you, your relationship—it felt like we were all part of it in a weird way, you know? It just came out when I was talking about the old days.” 

Harry smiled a bit, and it seemed sincere. “God, it's weird to think about less that a year ago being the old days.” 

Zayn laughed. “Yeah, well, a lot of things are weird right now I guess. God, who would have imagined.” 

Harry finally reached out, placing on big hand on Zayn's shoulder. 

“Zayn, I'm glad you're here. I mean it. I don't know what any of this is going to mean in the long run, but I believe you when you say you had nothing to do with that video getting leaked. And I think deep down Louis does too.” 

“I don't think he's ever going to forgive me, Harry.” Zayn said sadly. 

“I think we all just need some time. He's hurt, and he's stubborn, but he loves you. I love you too, you know.” Harry said sincerely, surprised to find he was getting choked up. 

“I love you too, you know. We'll always be brothers.” He pulled the younger man in for a hug. They pulled apart and stood up. 

“We'd better get back inside. But wipe those eyes first babe; Louis will really kick my ass if he thinks I made you cry.” 

They both laughed and Harry wiped his face before they both started to head across the garden. Before they made it to the door, Niall came bursting out, face looking wild. 

“Harry, Zayn, come here now, you've got to see this,” He said with a mad grin. 

They followed him into the house, where Lou, Liam and Nick were crowded around a laptop. Nick was shaking his head in happy disbelief, Liam looked gobsmacked, and Harry rushed over to his boyfriend when he saw Louis looking overwhelmed and teary. 

“Baby, what is it? What are we looking at?” he asked. 

Louis quickly buried himself in Harry's arms, hiding his face, seeming to take no notice of Zayn as he came to peer over Liam's shoulder. 

“Oh my god, Harry, it's...they...the fans! Liam was checking Twitter even though we told hm not to and we looked on Tumblr and Itunes and oh my god, they could have picked a less embarrassing song and its all about—but my voice, they're talking about us...” Louis was babbling, but he seemed cautiously happy. 

“Shh, hey, relax, what is it? What are the fans doing?” Harry rubbed Louis' arms soothingly. 

“Take a look for yourself, popstar,” Nick said with a smirk. “Always figured you'd were a frisky one in the mornings.” 

Harry leaned over to look at the laptop, pages and pages that Liam was scrolling through, and felt a sense of elation when he saw repetition of “support Larry”, “love matters”, and, most importantly...#projectNoControl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: Project No Control was one of the best things I've seen during my time in this fandom, and I hope I don't offend anyone by borrowing the concept and making it all about Larry, but I couldn't help myself. Thank you so much for reading, and please review! Unbeta'd, so if you see any mistakes please let me know as well.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my promise to actually finish this in a timely manner unlike my Tomlinshaw fic which I have major writers block on. Find me on Tumblr at ruggedbrilliance if you want.


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